Microsoft Flight Message Board

First-time readers of Flare Path, before you go any further, be aware that the following may contain references to obscure 1920s RAF biplanes. The writer will probably assume you find tankettes, midget submarines, and Welbikes inherently charming. At some point in the text he’ll almost certainly use the phrase “almost certainly” and the words ‘tad’ and ‘Panzer’ (Or, if the column is looking a tad short, ‘Panzerkampfwagen’). Alliteration will go unforgivably unchecked. Semi-colons and hyphens may be used; incorrectly.

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New Microsoft Flight Update Now Available

Here are the changes included in this latest update:
- We made a few changes to help address an issue that was causing some players to crash when starting the game.
- We addressed an issue that was causing a CRC validation error for some players.
- We also made some adjustments to help improve Windows 8 compatibility.

A special thank you to all the players who participated in the beta test of this build! Your efforts are appreciated.

Nobody knows for sure why the Hawaiian Giant Booby (Microsofta Flightus) died out. Some say its nest sites were invaded by shipwrecked rats. Others suggest Polynesian cloak-makers hunted it to extinction. A few believe the bird’s demise was directly linked to its unusual habit of aero-ovulation. Me, I’m a subscriber to the ‘Fatally flawed DLC’ theory. MS released the wrong add-ons at the wrong times at the wrong prices. (more…)

The surprisingly interesting Gotham City Imposters was the last game out of Monolith.

Bummer day for the video game industry. On the back of Microsoft Flight’s cancellation and layoffs at a Microsoft Game Studios office in Vancouver, there are layoffs at Warner Bros.’ Seattle studios.

Rumors of Warner Bros. layoffs started on Twitter this afternoon, and were then confirmed by Warner Bros. in a brief statement released by the publisher this afternoon.

“Due to shifting business imperatives, WB Games Seattle has made staff reductions. The group will continue to remain an integral part of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.”

The company declined to provide any specifics on the “staff reductions.”

The Seattle arm of Warner Bros. includes Monolith Productions, Snowblind Studios, and Surreal Software.

Rumours that Microsoft’s Vancouver studio had been completely shut down were swirling around the internet this morning, but in a statement to Gamespot, the company has specified that the studio will survive despite cuts. One of the projects that will cease, however, is Microsoft Flight, which means Tim Stone’s desire for “jets, smuggling, and air-sea rescues…via DLC” is likely to be forever unfulfilled, at least in this game. The free to play title seemed to have been designed as an expanding world but there will be no growth now. Our thoughts are with those whose jobs are affected, on this and other projects. Statement below.

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Microsoft has confirmed that a "small" number of positions at its Vancouver-based development studio have been terminated. According to an official statement, the roles were no longer deemed necessary after development ceased on Microsoft's free-to-play Flight, which was released in February, and an unreleased Kinect project known only as "Columbia."

Project Columbia, as described in late 2011, was to be an educational Kinect title meant to engage young players by pairing books with interactive music and illustrations. It was being designed in collaboration with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit (and muppet-infused) educational organization.

A report on Kotaku brought the layoffs to light earlier today, after several former employees of the Vancouver studio shared the news on Twitter. A Microsoft Studios spokesperson claims "human resources is working with the affected individuals to find new roles within the company," and that Microsoft remains invested in the British Columbia games industry.

Game Update Released Aerocaches Now Save
We are releasing an update today that fixes the issue preventing Aerocaches and Experience Points (XP) from being saved for some users.

The update will automatically be installed through Steam if you have automatic updates enabled for Flight, or during the next time you launch the game.

Here at Rock and Paper and Shotgun we are committed to free-to-read Wot I Thinks. The following assessment of Microsoft’s new gunless flight sim can be read as many times as you like for absolutely no fee:

“Microsoft Flight is jolly good, all things considered.”

Enjoy that? Want more? You’ll be pleased to hear that this WIT can be extended in numerous exciting and affordable ways.

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The Giant Bomb Flight Club takes on the latest incarnation of the granddaddy of flight sims.

I'm just waiting for the A-10C Warthog DLC.

Microsoft Flight has officially launched. If you're curious how this long-running series has changed, you can check it out now for free. Even if you're terrified of the idea of piloting a plane, you should have an easy time of it in Flight, as the controls can be configured to make it simple to get into the air and back on the ground...

Just like Holly Genarro’s plane had to circle the airport at Dulles Airport in the 1990 classic Die Hard 2: Rudder Me This, Microsoft’s free-to-play air-to-plane sim Flight is still up in the air. But fret not, fokkers, for Microsoft will be getting all John McLaine on its crew section, and exploding a planeful of terrorists to create runway lights on the 29th of February. That’s when everyone will be touching down on the crunchy snow and into Bruce Willis’s comforting embrace. Er, and the game’s out.(more…)

Microsoft clearly has no care for the silly paramaters we call "seasons," as its launching Microsoft Flight on February 29, bucking the original "spring" launch window. Microsoft Flight's official site will be hosting downloads of the free application starting that Wednesday -- no other distribution channels are named, but we suspect it'll also be up on Games for Windows Live's Marketplace as well.

That guess' accuracy is bolstered by the news that the "Hawaiian Adventure Pack" wil be made available as well on the 29th, coming in at $19.99. The pack is said to include the "remaining Hawaiian Islands, a new plane, and 20 new missions," should you have already exhausted your enjoyment of the other content, perhaps during the simulation's beta period. More details on the DLC can be found just after the break, including two additional planes, priced at $7.99 and $14.99 (for regular and "deluxe" models, respectively).

At this point, we were gonna make a flippant joke about Flight being little more than flying simulation, but then we thought about that Louis CK bit and started feeling all guilty. So, here we are. Either way, how about those DLC prices, eh? Madness!

Microsoft's reworked version of its Flight series will be available to download for free worldwide on February 29. The Hawaiian Adventure Pack that includes another plane, additional missions and territory, will also be available that day for download, though it'll cost 1600 Microsoft Points...

#microsoftflight Microsoft's casual take on the PC flight simulator takes to the air on February 29, the free-to-play title supplemented with $20 of downloadable content right out of the gate. why fly just one Hawaiian island when you can fly them all? More »

Pressing the ‘SUBMIT’ button on the Microsoft Flight beta application page does one of two things. if you’re lucky it propels your application down PTT tube ‘A’ – a trans-global conduit that terminates just above the desk of Merlin Packard, the MS Flight beta manager. If you’re unlucky it sends your missive down PTT tube ‘B’ – a trans-global conduit that terminates just above the maw of Kīlauea, Hawaii’s most energetic lava vent. Unfortunately, my application seems to have ended-up in the volcano. Deprived of first-hand Flight experience I’ve been forced to fact-gather by quizzing the developer. Descend ten thousand micrometers to see the result of that quizzing.

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#microsoftflight Microsoft's Flight Simulator has for years been the most successful and prominent flight simulator worldwide. Microsoft Flight is a completely different take on the franchise, so much so that it isn't part of the franchise whatsoever. More »

After over 340 years in development, there’s finally a trailer for Microsoft Flight. It’s the reboot of the previously defunct Flight Simulator series, beginning stuck on the islands of Hawaii, but coming out for free. The trailer doesn’t really emphasise the hardcore side of the game at all, so those hoping to find out if it’ll meet their MSFS needs will have to wait a bit longer.

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Flight simulator enthusiasts are a very specific, complex subsect of the gaming world. Their passion for checklists and indecipherable user interfaces places them at an almost MMO-level of dedication and persistence, and -- like the popular multiplayer RPGs -- flight sims are starting to make the leap to free-to-play.

Microsoft Flight will bring affordable ailerons and aerofoils to PC pilots this spring, according to an update on Major Nelson's blog. Everyone will have access to free crashes aircraft, though those who sign in with a Games for Windows Live account will receive additional free planes, missions and access to those sweet 'chievos.

The sim will also include the ICON A5, an amphibious, lightweight vehicle which doesn't enter real-world commercial production until the end of this year. Microsoft's PR describes the A5 as "the jet ski for the skies," which sounds like the most terrifying, fantastic way to die.

Prospective pilots can still sign up for that closed beta we mentioned by clicking here, presumably after strapping on goggles and a dashing scarf.

Remember when Microsoft closed ACES, the studio that makes Microsoft Flight Simulator, and everyone sighed and looked at their shoes and wondered if Steve Ballmer grew stronger with every studio the behemoth destroyed? That was 2009. In Spring 2012 the new Microsoft Flight will be released, and it will be a download, and it will be free.

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#flight Microsoft's rebirth of their hallowed Flight Simulator series, Microsoft Flight is finally coming out, over a year since we started seeing videos of it. More »

Few types of games outright intimidate me like flight sims. I mean, I've enjoyed a few flying games, but generally they're in space, or the put a much greater emphasis on ridiculous maneuvers than they do on realistic physics. But Flight is different; Microsoft is taking its most hardcore piece of g...

Microsoft Flight, a revamped, streamlined flight simulator-slash-game, is accepting applications for its beta program right now. The Microsoft Flight beta is scheduled to begin in January, and the dev team is accepting applications via Microsoft Connect for some brave pilots to try it before everyone else rides it. Applications sent to the Microsoft Flight email will not be reviewed for the beta, so do it right, or don't do it at all. Remember, when you're handling a 100-foot steel tube 32,000 feet above the earth, you only get one chance to get it perfect.

A beta test for the newest iteration of Microsoft's venerable flight simulator series, simply called Microsoft Flight, will be starting up in January 2012. Sign-ups to get into the test are now open on the game's official site...